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WEEKLY MARKET REVIEW
The Indian benchmark indices ended higher for the fourth consecutive week ended December 13 amid volatility, led by mixed global cues ahead of the Fed policy outcome next week. FIIs’ buying and better Indian CPI and IIP data helped the indices reduce their weekly losses.
This week, BSE Sensex rose 623.07 points or 0.76 percent to end at 82,133.12, while the Nifty50 index gained 90.5 points or 0.36 percent to close at 24,768.30.
The Mid-cap Index was up 0.2 percent, the BSE Large-cap Index rose 0.24 percent, and the BSE Small-cap index was down marginally.
On the sectoral front, the BSE Information Technology index rose 2.6 percent, the BSE Telecom index was up 1.7 percent, and the BSE Realty index rose 0.6 percent. On the other hand, the BSE Energy and FMCG indices shed 1.5 percent each, and the BSE Oil & Gas index slipped nearly 1 percent.
Bharti Airtel added most of its market value, followed by Infosys, Bajaj Finance, and Technologies. On the other hand, Reliance Industries, Hindustan Unilever, and lost most of their market cap.
During the week, Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) sold equities worth Rs 226.70 crore, while Domestic Institutional Investors (DII) bought equities worth Rs 2880.02 crore. However, in December till now, FIIs purchased equities worth Rs 11,706.89 crore, while DIIs bought equities worth Rs 4,672.49 crore.
The Indian rupee hit a fresh record low of 84.86 during the week ended December 13. However, domestic currency extended the losses as it ended 10 paise lower at 84.79 per dollar on December 13 against the December 6 closing of 84.69.
ECONOMY
Govt sets coal production target of 1,193.39 MT for FY26: Ministry officials
The Union government has set a coal production target of 1,193.39 Million Tonne (MT) for the financial year 2025-26, up 10.5 percent from the FY25 target of producing 1,080 MT of the fossil fuel in India, according to two senior officials in the Ministry of Coal.
So far, 96 coal mines have been auctioned for commercial operations by the government. Out of these allocated 96 blocks, 12 blocks have got ‘mine opening permission’ and nine have started actual coal production, while the rest are under construction.
Earnings disparity among states is highest for agricultural workers in rural areas
Poorer states haven’t caught up with the rich ones, at least in agricultural wages. In the case of agricultural work, the gap between states paying the lowest and highest amount per day was still 3.3 times in 2023-24, slightly lower than 3.8 times in 2014-15.
Kerala paid the highest at Rs 807 per day to its agricultural workers in 2023-24, while Madhya Pradesh paid the least at Rs 242.2 per day.
STOCKS IN NEWS
Waaree Energies: Shares snapped a seven-day winning streak and dropped 2.45 percent as investors rushed to cash in profits off the stock’s recent bull run. The stock had run up over 20 percent in the last seven sessions, giving investors plenty of room to book partial profits. The recent up move in the stock has been on the back of a few positive developments that strengthened sentiment around the company. This week the company bagged two back-to-back orders which helped trigger gains.
IOCL: Shares gained 3 percent to Rs 145 in morning trade on December 13, snapping its two-day losing streak on the bourses after Jefferies upgraded the stock to buy and raised the target price citing robust growth prospects going forward. With a price target of Rs 185, the international brokerage implies an upside potential of over 31 percent from the last closing price of Rs 141 on the National Stock Exchange.
Astra Microwave Products: The stock rallied over 6 percent to Rs 869 in the afternoon on December 13 after the company announced that Astra Rafael Comsys Private Limited, a joint venture, has won a Rs 255.88 crore order from the Ministry of Defence. The order, announced on December 13, is for the supply of 93 additional sets of Software Defined Radios (SDR) LRUs.
HAL: HAL will supply the Indian Air Force with 12 Advanced Sukhoi jets, along with associated equipment, for a total of Rs 13,500 crore. The aircraft will have to feature an Indigenous of 62.6 percent, which will be achieved as a result of the homegrown production of the numerous components manufactured by the Indian defence industry.